6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
As a successful young sculptor increasingly loses his grip on sanity, he imagines his wife, friends and family are all conspiring against him, begins filling his best-selling works with unspeakable human matter, becomes obsessed with brutal hidden-camera abuse videos, and inches inescapably closer towards the most horrific final act of all.
Director: Joko AnwarHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 52% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Fans of various nooks and crannies of international cinema will no doubt heard of so-called J-Horror, though in the case of The Forbidden Door, that J might conceivably refer to Java or Jakarta rather than Japan, even if the film's writer and director Joko Anwar evidently hails from another part of Indonesia called North Sumatra. The Indonesian setting of The Forbidden Door may seem to offer opportunities for some kind of "exotic" aspect, but as a matter of course The Forbidden Door isn't "site specific", so to speak, which may in fact make it more accessible for general audiences, despite a soundtrack that offers a lot of Indonesian dialogue with subtitles. The Forbidden Door is often incredibly stylish, though it's probably intentionally discursive, offering a fractured narrative that seems to be ping ponging across several different time frames and with an overall plot arc that might be ultimately reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in one salient way which won't be overtly spoiled here, though those adept at reading between the lines may be able to sense the connection.
The Forbidden Door is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Severin doesn't provide any technical information other than a generic announcement that this is the film's "North American Blu-ray premiere", and while the closing credits features a Fujifilm logo and at least one online source indicates 35mm, this seems to feature both film and HD video elements, as can perhaps be made out from parsing through all of the screenshots. (I wasn't able to listen to all of Joko Anwar's commentary, but the rather long sections I did listen to didn't get into any of the technical aspects, but the Behind the Scenes featurette certainly seems to show some kind of digital camera being utilized at least for some of the shoot.) One way or the other, this is such a highly stylized effort that I'm frankly not sure whether some of what is on tap here is intentional (all of the time) or not. Some of the footage that appears to be shot on film can be pretty rough looking, with a kind of noisy grain field. There are some moments that are obviously tweaked, either in terms of palette (see screenshot 6) or even in the overall look of the frame (see screenshot 19). Considering the "reveal" at the end of the film, I wondered if there was some kind of "internal logic" in terms of the presentational techniques of various scenes, but if there is, I frankly was not able to discern it. The more video elements here look kind of glossy but dimensionless, though detail levels are arguably sharper and more precise looking than in what seem to be the filmed elements.
The Forbidden Door features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that supports an almost nightmarish sound design that features a wealth of weird sound effects populating various scenes. The score kind of takes a cue (no pun intended) from Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar winning work on The Omen by offering quasi-chant material along with more traditional underscore. Dialogue, which can ping pong from English to Indonesian, is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
The Forbidden Door is both incredibly audacious but actually in a way kind of surprisingly rote, at least in its "big reveal". The film is unbelievably stylish and horror fans will probably appreciate that, even if they may wish that the graphic blood spilling didn't have to wait until the third act. I'm not sure everything really hangs together perfectly, but there's enough interest generated by the plot's twists and turns that should keep audiences engaged. Video is a bit iffy looking at times, but is not overly problematic, but audio is frequently boisterous and as usual Severin has assembled some enjoyable supplements. Recommended.
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